The invention relates to a throttle body, in particular for an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, with a continuous throttle opening for a throttle valve which is pivotably arranged on a throttle-valve shaft and with a housing, the housing comprising a housing cover and a housing body, an electric servodrive and a first electronic mechanism being arranged in the housing for pivoting the throttle-valve shaft. The invention also relates to an electronic module, which comprises electronic mechanisms for a motor vehicle and a base element which can be closed by a cover element, the motor vehicle having a multiplicity of electrical appliances and a throttle body, the throttle body comprising a housing with a continuous throttle opening for a throttle valve which is pivotably arranged on a throttle-valve shaft and an electric servodrive, arranged in the housing, for pivoting the throttle-valve shaft.
To control the amount of fresh gas to be fed to the internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, throttle bodies are usually used. Throttle bodies comprise a housing with a continuous throttle opening and a throttle member arranged in the throttle opening. The throttle member assumes a specific position in the throttle opening for a specific amount of fresh gas to be allowed to pass through. To this end, the throttle member can be mechanically or electronically activated.
It may be the case that, in a part-range, for example the idling range, the throttle valve of a throttle body can be moved by a servodrive and, in the remaining range, it can be moved with the aid of a wire cable coupled to the gas pedal of the motor vehicle. Alternatively, however, it may also be the case that the throttle valve can be moved by a servodrive in its entire adjusting range. In the case of these last-mentioned systems, there is no mechanical connection between the set point input, in particular the gas pedal, and the throttle valve. In the case of these electronic gas-pedal or drive-by-wire systems as they are known, the power requirement is converted into an electrical signal when initiated by the pressing down of the gas pedal. The electrical signal is fed to a control unit, which in turn generates from the electrical signal an activation signal for the servodrive.
In order in the case of electronic gas-pedal systems to avoid errors in the transmission of the activation signal from the control unit for driving the throttle-valve shaft, there are throttle bodies in which the control unit for the servodrive is integrated into the housing of the throttle body. The control unit may in this case be integrated into an electronic mechanism arranged in the housing. The electronic mechanism is in this case intended for further functions of the throttle body, for example for the activation of a position control of the throttle-valve shaft and the acquisition and storage of data of the throttle body. Integration of an electronic mechanism into the housing of the throttle body is often particularly complex in terms of production and assembly, since the housing must additionally have a receptacle for the electronic mechanism. What is more, the assembly of the throttle body requires an additional assembly step, in which the electronic mechanism is integrated into the housing of the throttle body.
Even if transmission errors of the activation signal of the servodrive for the throttle valve can be avoided particularly reliably by integrating the electronic mechanism for the throttle body into the housing of the throttle body, it may however prove to be problematical to connect the electronic mechanism of the throttle body to the remaining electronic mechanisms of the motor vehicle. A connection of the electronic mechanism of the throttle body to the remaining electronic mechanisms of the motor vehicle is required in order, for example, to coordinate the position of the throttle valve with the operation of an ignition device and/or an injection device. This connection of the electronic mechanism of the throttle body to other electronic mechanisms, in particular electronic control mechanisms, of the motor vehicle involves particularly great complexity in terms of assembly for the installation of the throttle body or electronic gas-pedal system in a motor vehicle. The further electrical appliances activated by the other electronic mechanisms of the motor vehicle may in this case be arranged both inside and outside the internal combustion engine in the motor vehicle. Furthermore, the signals to be exchanged between the electronic mechanism of the throttle body and the other electronic mechanisms may be falsified on account of interference pulses, possibly resulting in faulty signal transmission or, in the extreme case, no transmission at all. Furthermore, each cable to be laid in the motor vehicle represents additional complexity in terms of assembly.